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In this message we shall cover Christ’s person in His human living.
The foregoing messages on Christ’s person have been mainly concerned with His person in the divine element. Now we need to see His person in the human element. No doubt, this aspect of Christ is also for God’s dispensing. In order for God to dispense Himself into our being, it was necessary for Him to become a man. Before God could dispense Himself into us, He first had to dispense Himself into the man Christ Jesus.
We have pointed out that in His incarnation Christ was conceived of the Spirit of God and was born of a human virgin. Because of this conception and birth, He has both the divine essence and the human essence. Therefore, when Christ became a man, He was the God-man possessing the divine essence and the human essence. Now we need to consider Him, the God-man, in His human living.
In human living Christ was the Son of Man found in fashion as a man. He was not only the Son of Man; He was found in the fashion of a man, for He lived as a man. In Matthew 8:20 the Lord refers to Himself as the Son of Man: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere that He may lay His head.” In His living the Lord Jesus continually lived in fashion as a man. Hence, Philippians 2:8 says that, in His human living He was “found in fashion as a man.” The word “fashion” denotes the outward guise, the semblance. This is a specific repetition of “likeness” in Philippians 2:7. What Christ looked like in His humanity was found by men to be in fashion as a man. Being found in fashion as a man, in the appearance of a man, He humbled Himself. This means that when He was a man, He did not insist on anything. Rather, He humbled Himself to the point of dying on the cross. First, having the form of God, He emptied Himself. Then, being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death (Phil. 2:7-8).
In His human living Christ was also a despised Nazarene (John 1:45-46). Mary conceived a child in Nazareth (Luke 1:26-27, 31). According to the prophecy in Micah 5:2, however, Christ had to be born in Bethlehem. Under God’s sovereign arrangement, Caesar Augustus ordered a census (Luke 2:1-7, and this forced all the people to return to their places. Mary and Joseph were forced to return to Bethlehem, their home town. Immediately after they arrived in Bethlehem, Jesus was born. Eventually, a mistake made by the Magi aroused the hatred and jealousy of King Herod, who was angered that a kingly child had been born. Then Joseph received guidance in a dream to take the child to Egypt (Matt. 2:13-15). This enabled God to fulfill the prophecy of Hosea 11:1. After Herod died, Joseph received word in another dream to return to the Holy Land (Matt. 2:19-20). When Joseph returned and learned that Archelaus, the son of Herod, was in power, he was afraid to remain in the territory around Bethlehem. Therefore, he went to Nazareth, where Jesus was raised (Matt. 2:21-23). For this reason Jesus was called Jesus the Nazarene (Matt. 26:71; Mark 10:47).
When Jesus Christ was born into the human race, He appeared in a way that was somewhat hidden, in a way that was not open or evident. He was called Jesus of Nazareth, for He was a Nazarene. When Philip met Jesus, he realized that Jesus was the Messiah. Then Philip went to Nathanael and told him that he had met the Messiah and that He was the son of Joseph, a man of Nazareth. Immediately Nathanael said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:45-46). Did Philip give Nathanael the wrong information? It is difficult to say. Philip only knew that Jesus was the son of Joseph and that He was a Nazarene. Although Jesus was from Nazareth and was a Nazarene, He had not been born in Nazareth but in Bethlehem. Nathanael was troubled. However, Philip did not argue with him; he simply said, “Come and see” (John 1:46).
Christ, the seed of David, was born in Bethlehem, but He appeared as a Nazarene from Galilee (John 7:52), a town that was despised by the people of that time. Because the Lord was raised in Nazareth, others did not consider Him as one born in Bethlehem. On one occasion Nicodemus, who had come to know Jesus, tried to argue with the Pharisees concerning Him. The Pharisees asked him, “Are you also from Galilee?” (John 7:52). Galilee was a Gentile region; the Bible speaks of “Galilee of the nations” (Matt. 4:15). The Pharisees seemed to be saying to Nicodemus, “Are you from Galilee? We know that Jesus came out of Galilee. But out of Galilee there comes no prophet.” Apparently, Jesus was from Galilee, from Nazareth; actually, He was born in Bethlehem according to His hidden and secret way of appearing. As a Nazarene, the Lord grew up as a “root out of a dry ground,” having “no form nor comeliness,” “no beauty that we should desire him,” for He was “despised and rejected of men” (Isa. 53:2-3). For this reason, we should not know Him according to the flesh (2 Cor. 5:16) but according to the Spirit.
As a despised Nazarene, the Lord Jesus was not a man outwardly in a high position; rather He was low, not in standard, morality, or virtues but in rank and position. When He became a man, He took the lowest position and rank. Hence, He was despised as a Nazarene.
Galilee was a despised province, and the Galileans were a despised people. If you consult a map, you will see that Samaria was between Judea and Galilee. Of these three provinces, Judea was held in high regard. Samaria was despised because the people there were of mixed blood. Although the Galileans were not of mixed blood, Galilee was still considered an inferior region. All the people in that region, especially those in the city of Nazareth, were despised. As we have pointed out, although Christ was born in Bethlehem, the royal city of David, He grew up in Nazareth and as a result became known as a Nazarene.
Matthew 2:23 says, “And came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazarene.” The “prophets,” in plural, indicates that this is not a particular prophecy, but a summary of the significance of several prophecies, such as Psalm 22:6-7. The title “Nazarene” may refer to the “Branch” in Isaiah 11:1, which in Hebrew is netzer. The Branch there, signifying Christ, is “a shoot [or sprout] of the stump of Jesse,” the father of David. By the time Jesus was born, the throne of David had been overthrown. This means that the royal stem of David had been cut off. Then a new shoot sprouted from the stump of Jesse and grew out of his roots. The sprouting and growing of this shoot was in a situation of humiliation. Jesus was not born in a recognized and honored royal home, and He did not grow up in a renowned city like Jerusalem. He was born to a poor home and grew up in a despised town. All this made Him a Nazarene, not a lofty branch of a stately tree but a seemingly insignificant shoot from the stump of Jesse.
Although Jesus was a Nazarene, within Him there was the glory of God. Therefore, we should not know Christ according to the outward appearance. Rather, we need to discern the inward reality of Christ.
The Lord Jesus was a carpenter, a son of a carpenter (Mark 6:3; Matt. 13:55). Although the Lord was a descendant of the royal family of David, He was the son of a carpenter. This indicates that the royal family had gone down from a high rank to a low rank, to the rank of a carpenter. The Lord Jesus was the Son of Man, a despised Nazarene, and a carpenter, the son of a carpenter.
Only in the Gospel of Mark is the Lord Jesus called a carpenter. Those who rejected Him asked, “Is not this the carpenter?” They used the word “carpenter” in a despising manner. They were astounded by His teaching, by His wisdom, and by His works of power, but they regarded Him as a person of low status. In today’s terms, they might have wondered what qualifications He had or what kind of degree He had.
Mark 6:3 says that those who rejected the Lord Jesus, regarding Him merely as a carpenter, were “stumbled in Him.” Why were they stumbled in Him? They were stumbled in Him because, on the one hand, they heard wonderful things out of His mouth and saw some of His marvelous deeds, and yet, on the other hand, they considered that He did not have a high status or degree. They saw Him as one who was merely a carpenter. Therefore, they were stumbled in Him, and they despised Him.
In Mark 6 we see the Lord Jesus as a carpenter. He did not have a high social status. But He certainly had the riches of the Triune God, and He also knew the depths of the truth in the Scriptures. His hearers were greatly surprised at His knowledge of the Bible.
The record in Mark 6 should cause us to ask ourselves what we want and what we value. Do we want an advanced degree or a high social status? In the Lord’s recovery we want Jesus, and we want the riches of Christ. Instead of the mere superficial doctrines in the Bible, we want the depths of the divine truths in the Word of God. We would like to follow the Lord Jesus in ministering the riches of the Triune God to others and in presenting to them the depths of the divine truth in the Scriptures. However, we should not think that if we have the riches of Christ and the depths of the truth, we shall be welcomed. No, this is not the age when the Lord’s truth is welcomed on earth. On the contrary, this is an age when the Lord and His disciples are despised and rejected.
No one can compare with the Lord Jesus. He had the riches of the Triune God, and He had the depths of the truth. No matter how rich He was or how much He knew the truth in the Holy Scriptures, He was despised and rejected instead of welcomed.
In His human living Christ took the form of a slave, serving God and men (Phil. 2:7; Acts 3:13; Mark 10:45). He was a slave not only to God but also to man. In New Testament usage, the word “slave” refers to one who has sold himself and has lost all human rights. When the Lord Jesus was on earth as a man, He was such a person. He was a slave who had no rights.
Speaking of Christ, Philippians 2:7 says that He “emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men.” The Greek word rendered “form” in this verse is the same word used for the form of God in Philippians 2:6. In His incarnation the Lord did not alter His divine nature but only His outward expression of the form of God to that of a slave. This was not a change of essence but of appearance.
The Gospel of Mark presents the Lord Jesus as the Slave of God. Because Mark presents Christ as a slave, he does not tell us His genealogy and status, for the ancestry of a slave is not worthy of note. Neither does Mark intend to impress us with the Slave’s wonderful words (as Matthew does with His marvelous teachings and parables concerning the heavenly kingdom, and John with his profound revelations of divine truths), but with His deeds in His gospel service. Concerning this, the Gospel of Mark provides more details than the other Gospels in order to portray Christ’s diligence, faithfulness, and other virtues in the saving service He rendered to sinners for God. In Mark’s Gospel is the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Christ as the Slave of Jehovah in Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; 49:5-7; 50:4-7; 52:13—53:12 and the details of the teaching regarding Christ as the Slave of God in Philippians 2:5-11. Such a Slave served sinners as their Savior with His life as their ransom (Mark 10:45), for the fulfillment of the eternal purpose of God, whose Slave He was.
In Mark 10:45 the Lord Jesus says, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” This is a very strong expression stating that Christ, as the Son of Man in His humanity, is the Slave of God to serve sinners even with His life, His soul. Furthermore, the word “ransom” here indicates that even the Lord’s redemption was His service rendered to sinners for God’s plan.
In Revelation 1:5 Christ is called the faithful Witness. As the faithful Witness Christ testifies God. Without Him, we cannot know God or gain God. He lived a life as a witness to God. Although He was a despised Nazarene and even a slave, His living was a testimony of God, for He was a living witness of God. This means that He lived God. As a despised man in a low estate, He lived God. He lived a life that witnessed God faithfully.
In Revelation 3:14 the Lord indicates that He is the Amen, the faithful and true Witness. In Greek “Amen” means firm, steadfast, trustworthy. The Lord Jesus is the firm, steadfast, and trustworthy One. Because He is firm, steadfast, and trustworthy, He is the faithful and true Witness.
In his speaking in Acts 3:14 Peter calls the Lord Jesus “the Holy and Righteous One.” What does it mean to say that the Lord is the Holy One? In this verse “Holy” indicates that Jesus the Nazarene, the One despised by the Jewish leaders, was absolutely for God and separated unto Him. Furthermore, He was absolutely one with God. According to the denotation of the word holy in the Bible, it signifies one who is absolutely unto God, who is absolutely for God, and who is absolutely one with God. In all of human history only the Lord Jesus is such a one. Throughout His entire life He was absolutely separated unto God, for God, and one with God. There never was an instant when He was not absolutely for God and one with Him. Therefore, He is called the Holy One. He alone deserves this title.
As the Holy One, the human living of the Lord Jesus was altogether holy in nature. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18, 20), and He was called “the holy thing” (Luke 1:35). In His being and behavior He was holy. His living, which was absolutely separated unto God, for God, and one with God, corresponded to God’s desire and nature.
In Acts 3:14, Peter called the Lord Jesus not only the Holy One but also the Righteous One. To be righteous is to be right with God and also with everyone and everything. Only the Lord Jesus can be called the Righteous One because only He is right with God and with everyone and everything. In everything the Lord said and did He was right with both God and man. As the Righteous One, the Lord Jesus is the Right One. He was never wrong with God or with anyone or anything. In His human living the Lord was always the Holy One, the One absolutely separated unto God, for God, and one with God, and also the Righteous One, the One who was right with God, with everyone, and with everything.
In this message we have covered six aspects of Christ in His human living: the Son of Man found in fashion as a man, a despised Nazarene, a carpenter who was a son of a carpenter, the One who took the form of a slave to serve God and man, the faithful Witness of God, and the Holy and Righteous One. As such a One Christ is being dispensed into us, the members of His Body. If we are under His dispensing, surely we shall be the kind of person He was in His human living. We shall not want to hold a high rank but rather be low in rank and position. Actually, we are not the ones living in this way. This is Christ living in us after being dispensed into us. This is not a matter of following His steps or imitating Him. This is a matter of having Christ dispensed into us and then living Him. First, Christ is dispensed into our being, and then He lives from within us. Of course, as He lives within us we shall have a human living that is low in position and rank, yet holy in nature and righteous in behavior.
